A year after I retired, my ex-company lays off everyone in my old division

[robnplunder]

Today, I heard the news that after exactly a year of my retirement, the entire 300+ people in my old division will be laid off. All their projects have been canceled. It was a bitter sweet moment. Bitter, b/c I have a lot of former employees and co-workers who are still working there. They are forced to change. Bitter, b/c the head of the division's ambition (without means to achieve) killed the division. Sweet, b/c the psychopath can't hurt his employees any more and they will hopefully find better future elsewhere. Sweet, b/c I had the foresight to quit a year ahead and not deal with the eventuality. A lot of my ex-employees and co-workers can RE if they so choose. One has contacted me already, saying he will retire. It was a bitter sweet moment for him as well.

Anyone care to share similar story and commiserate?

 

[audreyh1]

Wow! So glad you got out of there well ahead of the disaster!

 

[harley]

Too bad. If you had stuck around another year you might have scored a nice layoff package. Hopefully it will put a few of your ex-cow*rkers over the hump.

 

[robnplunder]

Too bad. If you had stuck around another year you might have scored a nice layoff package. Hopefully it will put a few of your ex-cow*rkers over the hump.

A small package ... not worth it. Life is too short.

 

[PERSonalTime]

A small package ... not worth it. Life is too short.

+1.
Glad you got out when you did.

 

[JoeWras]

Sweet, b/c the psychopath can't hurt his employees any more and they will hopefully find better future elsewhere.

...

Anyone care to share similar story and commiserate?

Well, the "management" where I w-rk are doing similar. We've had a few very happy people get laid off at the perfect time. But I'm seeing devastation among the younger crowd. I'm in a group that was missed by the mass layoff this time.

My biggest worry, since you apparently are Bay Area, is that your psychopath is going come to my w-rk and become my boss. Not a joke.

 

[travelover]

I retired from MegaMotors in 2007, just before the stuff hit the fan. I got a nice buyout, but those who remained started getting laid off with only a little severance pay. My boss was appointed to be a hit man, calling in people and firing them right and left. Once all the layoffs were accomplished, they fired him.

I, at least, felt that by leaving when I did, maybe saved one job.

 

[CRLLS]

Share?

Let's see. I got laid off in late 70s when Mega Corp exited the business I was in. I got word I would be laid off in mid 90's when 2 companies merged. 2 days before my final day, I was given a full time job offer which I took. 1-1/2 yrs later, that division was closed. In late 2000's I was affected by a RIF. 2 qualified people- 1 position. Had to re-apply fro my position. For many personal reasons, I did not apply for it. I took "the package".

Over the years I saw many good employees go thru some tough life-changing changes as businesses closed their doors. Seeing others go first was difficult. The toughest part of any of these changes for me was waiting out the last days to qualify for my package. Going into those empty offices and /manufacturing plants, doing nothing for weeks on end, probably had a big affect on me not re-applying for my last RIF.

I'm glad I'm now out of that scenario.

 

[Racer X]

When I joined my old company, it was 30 people in a single room. There were two founders - both of whom I considered friends and mentors. Very fun, family atmosphere. Us against the world! Over a 12 year period it grew to be over 600 people with locations across the globe. Last year, after a VC company had bought controlling interest, forced the two founders out, and the atmosphere began to change, I decided enough was enough, and that it was time to pull the plug on this whole working for a living thing. About 2-3 months after that there was a massive layoff, with lots of friends getting let go. Yesterday I heard that the board is now looking for another 20% reduction in force and that sales are down almost 90% from target.

Part of me feels a little bit of survivor's guilt. What if I had stayed? Could I have helped people? Could I have helped change some of the directions taken or made better decisions than those I left behind? But part of me is just glad to be done with it!

 

[harley]

A small package ... not worth it. Life is too short.

Yeah, I was being a little sarcastic. Time > money. I also volunteered for a RIF, both to get the package and figuring I could save someone else's job. It worked for about 9 months, then they got RIFed in the next round. My old mega hasn't done any mass layoffs, like entire organizations. But they did do some spinoffs where people were "offered" the chance to move to the new company (worse pay, much worse benefits), with the understanding that if they didn't make the jump they'd be let go soon after. The work world is a cold, hard place, and I'm thrilled not to be a part of it anymore. I worry for DD, but she's doing alright so far. Smaller company, a little less heartless.

 

[Souschef]

I had a slightly different experience. About a month after I left, the FBI raided my company. When the dust settled, the Director of Marketing, the Comptroller, and one other person went to jail.
The charge was bribing a government procurement official.

 

[Bamaman]

Our MegaCorp merged with a like sized competitor out of necessity--and organizations merged. One company was very poorly managed but headquarters went to their city. The well managed company's very capable people had careers put "on hold."

In comes the financial crisis of 2008, and MegaCorp decided to divest themselves of employees 55 years and older--all of them. They simply overreacted to the economic climate. Now, they're trying to run a $15 billion sales operation without middle management employees and marketing is poor--MegaCorp is stagnant.

Massive layoffs cost them dearly in severance pay, supplemental pay until age 62 and supplemented retiree insurance forever. And in the end, it was the best thing to happen to every single early retiree. Because in the end, life goes on.

 

[marko]

Similar story here. My company was acquired by another and I was part of the "redundant" team. Along with a few others, they gave me an obscenely great severance and I RE'd and went on with my life.

Someone predicted that the "living will envy the dead" and it came to be true: those remaining were all happy that they were 'chosen to stay'. Three months later most were all let go with virtually nothing in the form of severance.

 

[FiveDriver]

I was working away diligently at AT&T in the mid-90's. I was buying this "Widows and Orphans" stock in my 401K with little regard for the old admonition about holding 100% of your 401K in company stock.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, they spun-off Bell Labs into Lucent and converted all 401K's to LU stock. Before I had a chance to rebalance, this stock became the Darling of Wall Street. Every Fund Manager wanted to own it. LU would double and split, and double again and split again -- there were several days when my 401K would increase $20K or more. I kept a mental Stop-Loss in place, but the gains were intoxicating.

The Company floundered, whether thru Bad Management, Bad Decisions or Bad Product Mix and the big sell-off started. I traded out of the 401K with about a 10% haircut, but still had a robust retirement kitty. With that cushion, I started thinking about the Telecom Startups that were shopping for experience, offering big salaries and Incentive Stock Options. If the Startup made it to IPO, it would make a lot of millionaires.

Lucent began downsizing, and i was in a position to take a Pension Enhancement Plan (PEP) that increased my Pension number. I signed on with a Startup, we began to design / build a Proof-of-Concept Model System.

Then 9-11 happened and froze the Credit Markets -- our second round of funding was on hold. There were staff cuts, with no compensation to the RIF'd employees. The VC's were calling the shots. A good design team was decimated.

Meanwhile, Lucent continued their decline with overall staff reduced to a Skeleton Crew and finally the Intellectual Property was purchased, first by Alcatel, and subsequently by Nokia. I know that just a few dozen folks were left in a building that once employed 7,000 of the best and the brightest. Sad, really.

I started a new career in an entirely different field and soon surpassed my best year in Telecom. My 401K was rolled over into a self-directed IRA. That kitty and the Pension that I get from Ma Bell is what made it possible to semi-retire and pursue other interests.

 

[robnplunder]

Well, the "management" where I w-rk are doing similar. We've had a few very happy people get laid off at the perfect time. But I'm seeing devastation among the younger crowd. I'm in a group that was missed by the mass layoff this time.

My biggest worry, since you apparently are Bay Area, is that your psychopath is going come to my w-rk and become my boss. Not a joke.

Come to think of it, the division/company hired a lot of kids right out of college and they were on H1 visa. Those kids will have to scramble to get a new job, and their immigration visa had to be reset.


I read a survey that claimed that about 30% of CEOs are psychopaths. They get there b/c they are ruthless to (ab)use others to get what they want. I wish no one ends up with such boss.

 

[robnplunder]

I retired from MegaMotors in 2007, just before the stuff hit the fan. I got a nice buyout, but those who remained started getting laid off with only a little severance pay. My boss was appointed to be a hit man, calling in people and firing them right and left. Once all the layoffs were accomplished, they fired him.

I, at least, felt that by leaving when I did, maybe saved one job.

By retiring early, I believed I gave an opportunity to one of my employees to step up to my position & title. That didn't happen as they split my job into two, and dispersed my employees to different departments.

 

[robnplunder]

Yeah, I was being a little sarcastic. Time > money. I also volunteered for a RIF, both to get the package and figuring I could save someone else's job. It worked for about 9 months, then they got RIFed in the next round. My old mega hasn't done any mass layoffs, like entire organizations. But they did do some spinoffs where people were "offered" the chance to move to the new company (worse pay, much worse benefits), with the understanding that if they didn't make the jump they'd be let go soon after. The work world is a cold, hard place, and I'm thrilled not to be a part of it anymore. I worry for DD, but she's doing alright so far. Smaller company, a little less heartless.

My company is a mega one. Everyone gets the minimum package. Based on employee reaction, the news was sudden & unexpected. No profit/no hope for resurrection = cancel the projects & fire employees.

 

[NW-Bound]

... they spun-off Bell Labs into Lucent and converted all 401K's to LU stock. Before I had a chance to rebalance, this stock became the Darling of Wall Street. Every Fund Manager wanted to own it. LU would double and split, and double again and split again -- there were several days when my 401K would increase $20K or more. I kept a mental Stop-Loss in place, but the gains were intoxicating...

I recently talked to an engineer who was at Nortel. Similar sad story.

In 1999, I held shares of all 3 companies: Cisco, Nortel, and Lucent.

I sold them one by one when the bubble burst. Lost some money, but not all of it.

 

[Totoro]

In 1999, I held shares of all 3 companies: Cisco, Nortel, and Lucent.

What, no Nokia?!

Some collection to have. I remember being in Dallas, Texas around 2003 visiting a former Nortel campus. Total ghost town. I was firmly in my ivory tower then (Telco PhD) watching the corporate world implode. Lots of stories from friends and former co-students with mass layoffs and such.

Reinforced the lesson that there is no security to be had in work, regardless of education and attainment.

What I learned today was that Nortel in particular lasted 120 years.

 

[robnplunder]

Reinforced the lesson that there is no security to be had in work, regardless of education and attainment.

Very true, especially, in high tech. It changes so fast that if you are not in the right boat, you sink with the rest.

 

[Chuckanut]

A former acquaintance worked for W.T. Grant as a department manager in a store. He was quite outspoken about what he considered poor decisions being made locally and nationally. Eventually, as part of a cost cutting move, they canned him and gave him his 'retirement' which was stock in the company. He sold the stock for $50,000 (a lot of cash back then) and bought a small store front property in which he opened a used book store. Six months later Grant went bankrupt and all those 'lucky' employees who were not terminated saw their retirement stock rapidly head down to ZERO.

The book store made a modest income. But, his shop was located on a prime piece of land in Pasadena, CA. The land was re-developed years later and he sold it for a small fortune.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

My story is that years ago DH had a job where his work group was moved to a lower cost state with a significant pay cut. I didn't want to move and talked him into staying. He found another job locally and I started working more so we actually came out ahead. Not too long after the move his old group's work was outsourced to a lower cost country and the people who moved were out of work anyway.

 

[NW-Bound]

In 1999, I held shares of all 3 companies: Cisco, Nortel, and Lucent.

What, no Nokia?!
...

You made me load up the old MS Money portfolio file to look. No. No Nokia.

But I had Juniper Networks, Global Crossing, Level 3, Motorola, Harmonic, Ciena, Broadcom, Brocade, Conexant, etc, etc...

Do these count?

 

[robnplunder]

A former acquaintance worked for W.T. Grant as a department manager in a store. He was quite outspoken about what he considered poor decisions being made locally and nationally. Eventually, as part of a cost cutting move, they canned him and gave him his 'retirement' which was stock in the company. He sold the stock for $50,000 (a lot of cash back then) and bought a small store front property in which he opened a used book store. Six months later Grant went bankrupt and all those 'lucky' employees who were not terminated saw their retirement stock rapidly head down to ZERO.

The book store made a modest income. But, his shop was located on a prime piece of land in Pasadena, CA. The land was re-developed years later and he sold it for a small fortune.

Great story. Often, the first ones to get laid off are the lucky ones. One of my previous companies laid off employees for years before it was sold. The severance package got worse each time, as stock options kept losing their value. Earlier laid off employees sold/exercised whatever stock option they had at the time at much higher price.

 

[Badger]

For almost 10 years after decade in academia I worked for a chemical company in the paper industry as an Industrial Microbiologist/Chemical Engineer. I was laid off after a good annual evaluations and a "plum" trip to Australia to present a paper at an international forum that was published in a leading journal. Go figure. Turned down a much better paying job at one of their competitors but recommended a friend/coworker instead who accepted the job as I reentered academia. A few short years later the company I had worked for was bought out and many people were laid off. My life, although with a smaller paycheck, greatly improved. 20 years later I retired with fond memories of helping others get started in their medical careers, a feeling of making a positive contribution and appreciation from so many students for my efforts. Sometimes it takes a little while for things to come together. Me 1 - chemical company 0.

Cheers!